Knockdown Daily 5/28/21: Max Holloway vs. Yair Rodriguez To Headline July 17th UFC 'Fight Night'
The new booking between Max Holloway and Yair Rodriguez leads the MMA stories for Friday
Welcome to the Friday edition of the Knockdown Daily. This issue will look at MMA news from the past two days and provide a preview for today’s major events in the sport.
News
Max Holloway vs. Yair Rodriguez To Headline July 17th UFC ‘Fight Night’ Card
Former UFC Featherweight Champion Max Holloway will look to continue his campaign towards another title shot on July 17th, as he will face Yair Rodriguez in a five-round main event fight. The headliner for a UFC “Fight Night” card was first reported by Brett Okamoto of ESPN on Wednesday.
Holloway is coming off a stellar five-round striking performance that he pulled off against Calvin Kattar. 25 minutes in the cage against Kattar showed Holloway’s high-level striking ability, handing the former champ his first win after losing a two-fight series to current 145-pound champ Alexander Volkanovski in 2019 and 2020.
The fight in July is scheduled to be three months short of nearly two years after Rodriguez’s last fight. Rodriguez last fought in October of 2019, where he scored a decision win over veteran Jeremy Stephens.
Rodriguez was scheduled to compete last year in a fight against Zabit Magomedsharipov but was eventually pulled from the fight due to injury.
LFA Vet Kamuela Kirk Steps In To Face Makwan Amirkhani At June 5th UFC Event
Makwan Amirkhani will stay on UFC’s June 5th card, as LFA veteran Kamuela Kirk has stepped in on short notice to face him in a featherweight bout, per a report from Nolan King of MMA Junkie.
Kirk will be taking the place of Nate Landwehr, who reportedly departed the card last week due to injury.
Kirk is getting the UFC call-up after strong performances in LFA this year. The 27-year-old has appeared in LFA twice in 2021, finishing both Guilherme Santos and Daniel Swain within two rounds.
Kirk has competed in LFA since 2018, and currently holds a promotional record of four wins and two losses.
Now with a new opponent, Amirkhani still has the goal of bouncing back from a decision loss he took in October against Edson Barboza. The fight came three months after he scored a quick submission win, stopping Danny Henry within a round with an anaconda choke at UFC 251.
Kirk won’t be the only former LFA fighter making their UFC debut on June 5th. The show will also feature former LFA Middleweight Champion Gregory Rodrigues, who will be fighting Dusko Todorovic.
Former UFC Fighter Bobby Moffett, CFFC Vet Jesse Stirn Join June 10th PFL Lineup
CFFC vet Jesse Stirn and former UFC fighter Bobby Moffett have both been called upon to compete at PFL’s June 10th event, stepping in for Lazar Stojadinovic and Anthony Dizy respectively.
Now, Moffett is set to face Bubba Jenkins and Stirn has been paired against two-time PFL champ Lance Palmer. The matchups are set to take place as part of a regular-season card from the Ocean Casino Resort in Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA.
The two changes to PFL’s June 10th lineup were announced by the promotion earlier this week. The reason for the withdrawal of Dizy and Stojadinovic from the lineup is not known.
Stirn joins the PFL roster after competing under regional promotion CFFC in his last two bouts. While he lost a title fight to Pat Sabatini late last year, the 29-year-old bounced back in April with a decision victory over Reginald Adams.
His opponent, Palmer, has something to prove in the fight as his last appearance saw him lose for the first time in 11 fights. His long win streak included two successful championship runs in the PFL.
Moffet is making the move to the PFL after a three-fight run in the UFC from 2018 to 2019. His UFC career came to a close after he lost a split decision to Enrique Barzola in August of 2019, which handed him his second consecutive loss.
He will fight Jenkins, who is riding the momentum of a win against Palmer in his PFL debut last month.
Undefeated Punahele Soriano To Face Brendan Allen At July 24th UFC Event
Undefeated middleweight Punahele Soriano has received a new opponent for his July 24th booking, now being matched with Brendan Allen. News of the matchup was first reported by Mike Heck of MMA Fighting.
Soriano was first expected to meet Anthony Hernandez in June, although he is now being given a new opponent after injury forced Hernandez out of the fight.
Soriano has won both of his UFC appearances within a round, stopping Oskar Piechota and Dusko Todorovic with strikes. The 28-year-old joined the UFC in 2019 after a win on “Dana White’s Contender Series.”
Allen will be stepping into the fight in search of his fourth UFC win. Allen returned to the win column in April stopping Karl Roberson late in the first round with strikes.
Allen was competing for the first time since he took his first promotional loss in November to Sean Strickland. Prior to then, he had quickly attained three UFC wins since 2019.
Lerone Murphy To Face Charles Jourdain At August 14th UFC Event
Lerone Murphy’s undefeated UFC run will be put on the line on August 14th when he faces featherweight Charles Jourdain. News of the fight was confirmed earlier this week by Ken Wong.
Murphy has yet to lose since he joined the UFC roster in 2019. While his promotional debut concluded in a draw, Murphy has since picked up a stoppage win over Ricardo Ramos and a decision win against Douglas Silva.
He now fights Jourdain, who recently returned to the win column with a finish victory against short-notice opponent Marcelo Rojo. The victory earned the Canadian a win after a loss and draw in his two previous appearances.
Preview
ONE Championship: Full Blast
ONE Championship was set to air an all-women card on Friday called “Empower.” However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, that live show has now been postponed. To fill in for it, ONE Championship will air a pre-taped five-fight card on Friday called “Full Blast.” A Muay Thai tilt between Saemapetch Fairtex and Kulabdam Sor. Jor. Piek Uthai headlines the card.
Main Card (8:30AM EDT / 8:30PM SGT) (B/R Live / Youtube)
Bout 1: Anthony Do (7-4) vs. Liang Hui (5-6-1) (127 lbs) (MMA Bout)
Bout 2: Ahmed Faress (16-3) vs. Edwards Kelly (12-8) (155 lbs) (MMA Bout)
Bout 3: Santino Verbeek vs. Miles Simson (185 lbs) (Kickboxing Bout)
Bout 4: Kantharaj Agasa (11-2) vs. Xie Wei (6-3) (135 lbs) (MMA Bout)
Bout 5: Saemapetch Fairtex vs. Kulabdam Sor. Jor. Piek Uthai (145 lbs) (Muay Thai Bout)
CFFC 96: Jones vs. Cleveland
In the first of their two events this weekend, CFFC will see heavyweights have the spotlight. In the main event of Friday night’s 11-bout show, Jamelle Jones will look to defend his CFFC Heavyweight Championship for the first time when facing former PFL fighter Rakim Cleveland.
Preliminary Card (Facebook)
Bout 1: Geoff Magin (2-0) vs. CJ LaFragola (0-0) (Amateur Middleweight)
Bout 2: Tanner York (0-0) vs. Matt Surich (0-0) (Amateur Catchweight 165 lbs)
Bout 3: Tim Green (0-0) vs. Nick Galanti (1-0) (Amateur Catchweight 195 lbs)
Bout 4: Mark Grey (1-0) vs. James Mullens (2-0) (Amateur Featherweight)
Bout 5: Taylor Pierce (1-1) vs. James Herd (2-3) (Featherweight)
Main Card (8:00PM EDT) (UFC Fight Pass)
Bout 6: Jerald Spohn (0-0) vs. Nick Olson (0-1) (Welterweight)
Bout 7: Kris Moutinho (8-4) vs. Andrew Salas (6-5) (Bantamweight)
Bout 8: Laura Gallardo (3-1) vs. Helen Peralta (3-1) (Strawweight)
Bout 9: Boimah Karmo (7-5) vs. Jeremiah Labiano (12-7) (Catchweight 152 lbs)
Bout 10: Eddy Torres (3-0) vs. Yohe Rojas (2-1) (Featherweight)
Bout 11: Jamelle Jones (11-6) vs. Rakim Cleveland (21-13-1) (CFFC Heavyweight Championship)
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